What is the deal with girls wearing glasses without lenses in Japan?

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[image: tokyofashion.com]

David of neojaponisme on a booming nerd fashion trend in Japan:

Over the last six months, there has been a precipitous increase in the number of young Japanese women wearing giant, thick-rimmed glasses with no lenses. These are somewhere between your garden-variety, Woody Allen ironic hipster glasses and toy spectacles worn by kindergartners in school plays.

Well, I approve. Note that the Harajuku girl above is also sporting a set of steampunkish goggles, for maximum cute-age. More on the trend's origins, which may have roots in Taiwan or Korea, on neojaponisme.com. The post includes links to lots more photos of "no frames girls" like this one.

(Thanks, Matt Alt!)